


The Pan Pacific Diamond Cinema

by evrybodysdarlin



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M, Romantic Comedy, movie theater AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-01-06 10:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evrybodysdarlin/pseuds/evrybodysdarlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt and all of his friends work at the PPDC--the historic Pan Pacific Diamond Cinema, a struggling movie theater owned by Stacker Pentecost.  Things are business as usual for Newt until he and the other employees get some big news...and he finds out that he may have just tried to seduce his new boss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a few chapters long and very light in tone--this is basically a rom-com. The Chuck/Raleigh subplot will show up eventually. I haven't quite decided if smut will be featured or not.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

There's one thing Newt should have learned in his time at the Pan Pacific Diamond Cinema—never let the Becket boys clean out a theater by themselves.

“Raleigh! Yancy!” Newt called as he stuck his head through the doorway of the darkened theater. “I see you in there throwing popcorn at each other. My night vision is excellent. Stop dicking around and sweep!”

“Sorry!” Yancy called back. He actually sounded halfway apologetic, but Raleigh just laughed. Little Becket was incorrigible. 

“If Stacker comes in and finds the floors sticky again, I'm not making excuses for you this time,” Newt continued, consciously ignoring the fact that he sounded like a guilt-tripping mother.

“We'll do a good job, Newt. Relax!” Raleigh clapped him on the shoulder, and, thanks to Raleigh's ridiculously athletic physique, the force made Newt stumble on his feet.

“You better, Sasquatch. I'll be manning the front desk if you need me.” Newt strode out of the dark theater and into the main cinema lobby. He smiled at Mako, who was behind the concessions counter. She was one worker who never fooled around, and it wasn't just because her dad owned the place. She was the classic overachiever. If only her influence would rub off on Raleigh. You'd think it would after all of the time they spent together.

The Wei triplets were in the ticket windows. Newt never got tired of watching people do a double-take when they realized that each person behind the counter was completely identical.

Tendo was taking tickets and directing people to their theaters. Newt rolled his eyes at the sight. He kept telling Tendo that there was no need for a co-manager to stand there and take tickets like a trained monkey, but Tendo insisted that he liked interacting with the customers and being the “face of the theater.” 

“After all, I'm the best-looking son-of-a-bitch around here,” Tendo always noted, in that smug way that should have been annoying, but came off as charming. Good-looking bastard.

Newt stationed himself behind the customer service desk. He hoped to God that no one would come up and ask him questions. The worst part about being co-manager was that everyone brought their problems to you. He'd been bitched out more times than he cared to count. This job had certainly taught him more patience. He'd taken it while he was a broke film student and was seduced by the opportunity to watch movies for free. He was now a film school graduate who still hadn't gotten his own movies into any but the smallest free film festivals. At least he was slightly less broke since his promotion to co-manager; he just tried to ignore that aching feeling that he had totally sold out to The Man.

Fortunately, business buzzed along at a steady pace that afternoon, and no one presented Newt with any problems more challenging than a jammed paper roll in the ticket printer. He was just about to leave his customer service post when the strange man approached the counter.

“Strange” was definitely the word. The man was wearing a suit, which was hardly normal cinema attire. Not just a suit, but an incredibly _nice_ suit, all pinstriped and made of some kind of material that had a sheen to it, with an honest-to-God waistcoat under it. He had accessorized the suit with thick, dark sunglasses that completely obscured his eyes. Even beyond the gaudy clothes, the man stood out for his size; he was broad-shouldered and towered easily half a foot over Newt.

Newt just gawked at the man for a moment. His first impulse was to make a wiseass comment about the overly expensive suit and superfluous sunglasses, something like “Are you the lost Blues Brother who discovered his trust fund?” But the sarcastic words died on his tongue as he realized that despite—or because of?--all the weird fashion choices, the dude was hot. Everything about him screamed “powerful.” His size, his flash, the way he sauntered up to the counter...it hit some buttons.

“Well, hello, Daddy, what can I do for you today?” Newt asked, pitching his voice low. He was grateful that he'd worn a relatively clean shirt today, and that he had already ditched the ugly red vest that Stacker tried to get the employees to wear.

“Ah...” The dude seemed taken aback for a moment. “I'm looking for the owner.”

“He's not here, sweetie, but I'm a manager, so I can help you with whatever you need.” Newt was pretty sure he had just literally batted his eyelashes. His flirting skills were a little rusty, but God help him, he tried.

“A manager, huh? What's your name?”

Newt winced as he realized he'd discarded his employee nametag when he'd ditched the vest. “I'm Newt.” 

“Newt? Can't say I've heard that name before.” The man leaned his elbow on the counter. He had to lean down. God, he was big. Newt wanted to roll over and beg.

“It's short for Newton. I can't say that I've heard _your_ name before...because you haven't said it.” He smiled his most winning grin. At least, he hoped it was the winning one and not the manic one.

“I'm Hannibal,” the big guy said, holding out his hand.

“Hold on a second, _Hannibal_? And you're talking shit about _my_ name? Psh!” Newt laughed. He eagerly accepted the handshake, secretly swooning over the way this Hannibal's hand swallowed his up completely. 

“I wasn't talking shit. Just making conversation.” Hannibal smiled, revealing gold teeth. This guy really walked the line between “tacky” and “fabulous.” Pretty bold.

“We could make some conversation over dinner if you want.” The offer sounded forward and awkward once it came out of Newt's mouth. And here he had thought that it would be subtle, compared to the offer he _wanted_ to make, which was to let Hannibal take him into the back row of the nearest theater and do anything he wanted to him for the next two movie showings.

Hannibal opened his mouth to answer, and Newt literally held his breath, waiting...and then Stacker Pentecost's booming voice interrupted the moment.

“Mr. Chau! So good to see you! Sorry I'm late. I had an appointment that ran a bit longer than I expected.” Stacker was still bustling through the revolving glass door, holding his hand out to Hannibal as he walked. 

Aside from having just been cockblocked, Newt was totally weirded out by this situation. Stacker didn't have mid-day appointments away from the theater, and he didn't usually hang out with big, rugged men in pimp suits, at least during work hours. What was going on here?

“Newton!” Stacker's joviality was beginning to sound decidedly strained. Newt knew how his boss sounded when he was stressed. “I'm glad you're here. I want you to meet Hannibal Chau.” 

Oh, shit. Had he just awkwardly hit on Stacker's friend? “We just met,” Newt said weakly.

“I meant to talk to you and Tendo about this before Mr. Chau came in. There's something very important that I need to tell all of you, but especially you two.”

Stacker reached out and clapped Hannibal on the shoulder. “I'm selling the theater, and Hannibal here has just agreed to buy it. The papers were signed yesterday.”

Newt gaped like a fish as Stacker grinned resolutely. 

“Newton, meet your new boss!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt confides in Hermann. Stacker holds a meeting. Everyone finds out some big news. And Newt is even more screwed than he thought...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't think of any warnings except a fair amount of cursing and some discussion of cancer. 
> 
> Thanks to killerweasel for reading over this!

Stacker had ordered Newt and Tendo to keep the change in management secret until he told everyone at the scheduled staff meeting that night.

So of course, as soon as Stacker and Hannibal Chau walked away, Newt turned to Tendo and began trying to explain his humiliating ordeal.

"No." Tendo said softly. He shook his head and gently reached over to lay his finger across Newt's mouth. "I don't want to hear it."

"Mmph! Tendo!" Newt complained.

"I want to make a good impression on our new boss. I want to act _professional_ around him. If you tell me this story now, I'm going to act like a goon at the meeting, and then where would we be? I'm very interested in hearing a story that begins 'So, I didn't mean to sexually harass our new boss, but...' _after_ I've charmed the guy a little."

"But Tendoooo!" Newt pursed his lips like a fish, and Tendo frowned in disgust and took his finger away. "I'm not allowed to talk to any other employees about this! How am I supposed to vent my pain?"

"Vent to someone who doesn't work here. Wait, but not to a customer. God, Newt, don't you have any other friends?"

"No comment," Newt mumbled, turning away. As he did, he saw a blessed sight. Hermann Gottlieb was walking through the door.

"Ha! As Stacker's independently contracted accountant, Hermann is neither a customer, nor an employee! Plus, _he's_ totally my friend!"

"Hermann hates you, dude," Tendo said, wiping his finger off on his shirt as though removing Newt cooties as he walked away.

"It's a love-hate thing. You wouldn't understand. Hermann!"

“Good afternoon, Newton,” Hermann said. See? Totally friends. Even if Hermann rolled his eyes a little as he spoke.

“I've got to talk to you about something, dude!” Newt called.

“Newton, please don't refer to me as 'dude'. I'm here to see Mr. Pentecost.”

“It can wait! Please, c'mere!” 

Hermann sighed and leaned heavily on his cane. “All right. You have one minute to tell me whatever it is.”

“Challenge accepted! Okay, so, I was working behind the customer service counter and this really hot guy came up to me.”

“Newton! I've asked you to stop telling me about who you would like to 'bang'. I don't appreciate it.”

“No, no, it's relevant, I swear! So, this guy comes up to me, kind of old, wearing a pimp suit--”

“A _what_?”

“Let me finish! Old, sexy, wearing a pimp suit, and I flirted with him a little bit.”

“Oh, God.”

“You know, just, like, called him Daddy...”

“Oh, _God_!”

“Batted my eyelashes, asked if he wanted to have dinner with me...you know, all that stuff.”

“Please get to the point!”

“Well, the guy turned out to be...our new boss. He's buying the theater from Stacker. Actually, he's already _bought_ the theater from Stacker and tonight he's getting introduced to everyone at a staff meeting and he's my new boss and I called him Daddy, Hermann! Daddy!”

Hermann grabbed Newt's elbow roughly and whispered harshly in his ear. “Newton Geiszler, you are the most selfish little twit. You tell me all of this about you and the new boss and you don't even think about how a new owner may affect the other employees...and me! He may tear the place down! He may bring in his own people and fire everyone. He may...he may have his own accountant! I need this work, Newton! I'm about to be a father, for God's sake.”

“Whoa, you're...I hate to say this, but you're a tiny bit right, Hermann. I didn't mean to be self-centered. I'm just slightly freaking out about how the guy got here ten minutes ago and I'm probably already on his shit list!”

“I've seen you get yourself out of worse scrapes than these, Newton. Remember when you posted that Groupon offer without Mr. Pentecost's knowledge and the theater was overrun? Remember when you broke the popcorn machine because you tried to 'rewire' it?”

“Hey, I later fixed it _and_ made it self-cleaning!”

Hermann ignored him. “Remember when you _hired the Becket brothers?_ ”

“OK, so the point I'm getting is... I'm pretty good at sweet-talking my way out of things, aren't I? Maybe this won't be so bad.”

“I'm glad that _you_ are feeling better, Mr. Geiszler. Now I'm going to go knock on Pentecost's door...possibly to face my own doom.”

“Relax, Hermann! You're the best accountant in town. You can tell just by looking at your Urkel clothes.”

“I'm sure I'd be offended if I knew what the hell you were talking about. But thank you for the compliment. I'll see you later.” With a stiff nod, Herman began walking resolutely toward Pentecost's closed office door.

Abandoned by his friends, Newt forced himself to actually get back to work. He made his way around the building, checking on each employee and each of the six theaters, then ended up back at the customer service desk again. 

Just touching the top of that desk gave him traumatic post-awkwardness flashbacks all over again.

Hermann emerged from Pentecost's office a few minutes later, bearing his usual armload of spreadsheets, and he gave Newt a little nod and wink as he passed by on his way out the door. Newt figured that it was supposed to be Hermann's uptight version of a thumbs-up to show that he was still employed.

Hermann had escaped the new management's office unscathed—now if only Newt could be so lucky.

Staff meetings had to be held unbearably late at night, thanks to the nighttime movie rush. By the time everyone gathered in the break room, they were usually all giddy with exhaustion, cracking up at stupid jokes until Stacker had to glare them into submission. 

As Newt entered the break room that night, Stacker wasn't there yet, and his fellow employees were as rowdy as ever, with the exception of Tendo, who made a buggy-eyed nervous face at Newt as he walked through the door. Of course, Tendo's buggy-eyed face wasn't all that different from his normal face. 

“Do you think the meeting's gonna take long tonight, Newt? We want to go out after,” Yancy called from his seat across the room. 

“Sorry, but I think this one may take a while,” Newt said ruefully. He sat down next to Mako, since she was the least likely to pester him.

Then he realized something. Mako was Stacker's _daughter_. Did she know that her dad was selling the place he'd owned for years, the place where she worked? Newt glanced over at Mako, trying to see if she looked any different than usual, but she'd always had a good poker face.

Finally, Stacker entered the room, followed closely by Hannibal Chau. Newt studiously looked at his lap and avoided eye contact, ignoring the shuffling noises and puzzled little “Hmm?” sounds from the people around him.

Stacker made a soft “ahem” noise and stared firmly ahead, and everyone instantly quieted. (How did he do that? Newt wished he had that superpower.)

“Tonight is not an ordinary meeting, friends,” Stacker began, his voice a low rumble that somehow carried through the room. “I need to take this opportunity to tell all of you that I'm selling the theater.”

Stacker's magic powers weren't quite strong enough to suppress the uproar that his announcement caused.

“What?” Yancy spat out.

“Are we all fired?” Raleigh asked, scrunching up his face as though steeling himself for the worst. He was giving Mako the side-eye, clearly telegraphing _Why didn't you tell me about this?_ Newt was surprised that she had kept something from Raleigh. They really were disgustingly co-dependent platonic life partners.

“No, not at all,” Stacker replied quickly.

“Is the place getting demolished?” Jin demanded. “I saw a few rats living here last week.”

“No, the theater is not getting demolished. And why didn't I hear about these rats?” Stacker asked.

“Because Newt caught them in a humane trap and brought them home with him,” Hu supplied. 

Newt interrupted his own duck-and-cover strategy to turn his head and glare in Hu's direction. “I thought I could use them in one of my movies, okay?” 

“Are you selling the theater because you owe lots of money to that big dude behind you?” Cheung called out.

For the first time in the meeting, a slight smile crossed Stacker's face. “No. In fact, Mr. Chau is here because he's the new owner of this cinema.”

The uproar quieted down a little as everyone simultaneously sat up a little straighter and stopped shouting out questions, suddenly self-conscious. 

“Guess I should introduce myself.” God, Hannibal's voice was low. It practically rumbled through the room. No, Newt, ignore the attractiveness. “I'm Hannibal Chau. As much as I enjoy making people uncomfortable, I have to tell you all, I'm not planning on firing anyone or tearing the place down, at least not any time soon. I think that I can make this theater even more successful. When I heard that it was up for sale, I took the opportunity. Some of you may have heard of me before. I own several local businesses.” Newt rolled his eyes a little at the grandstanding, but hey, you didn't get rich enough to wear pimp suits without a little ego.

“Is one of them the Chinese restaurant on 11th Avenue?” Hu demanded.

“Yes, actually. Chau's Buffet. Best Szechuan on the West Coast.”

“Sweet! Do we get coupons?” Yancy asked.

“I'll see what I can do. Anyway, for my first few weeks here, I just want to get to know everyone and see how the place runs. Stacker is going to stay for the first week or so to get me situated.”

“But Mr. Pentecost, why are you leaving?” Raleigh's hurt puppy face was legendary and may or may not have gotten him and Yancy their jobs in the first place, thanks to its power. Now its full force was aimed at Pentecost. It was like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

Stacker didn't visibly melt the way most people did when faced with a sad Becket, but he sighed and stood a little less military-straight. “I didn't necessarily want to tell all of you this, since it's really a personal matter, and I didn't want to worry you, but... I'm sick. I've been diagnosed with cancer.” He raised his hand to stop the jumble of questions that began. “It's treatable, and I should be fine. But I'm needing to take some time off for treatment. I don't feel like I can run things as well if I'm not around.” The entire room was stricken into silence. “I think that Mr. Chau can do good things with this place.”

“What kind of cancer?” Yancy asked softly. 

“It's leukemia. The doctor said I have a good prognosis if I begin treatment immediately.” Everyone nodded seriously, clearly unsure of what to say.

Newt was beginning to feel restless and twitchy in his chair. This was awful. He felt bad for Stacker, and Mako, really bad, but he just didn't do serious emotions well. He didn't do sensitive conversations well. No one had replied to Stacker's last statement, and the oppressive quiet of the room was unbearable.

Newt looked at strong, dignified Stacker and tried to imagine him bald and frail. He got a sudden mental image of Walter White.

“Does this mean you're gonna start selling meth now?” Newt blurted out. Everyone sitting near him turned to look at him with obvious disgust. Probably not the right time for a joke, then. But then Newt looked up to the front of the room, cringing as he waited to see what Stacker's reaction to his idiotic comment would be...and he saw Hannibal Chau, standing behind Stacker, distinctly smirking. Possibly even chuckling. Did their new boss actually have a sense of humor? 

“If I did, I'd make a lot more money than I do here, now wouldn't I?” Stacker deadpanned, looking annoyed, but no more than he usually did. 

A few people laughed hesitantly. Newt turned his head and saw that Raleigh was whispering vehemently in Mako's ear. 

“I'm sorry, Raleigh!” Mako whispered back. “I couldn't tell you because I knew you would tell Yancy and he would tell someone else.”

Stacker cleared his throat pointedly and continued speaking, already using his boss voice again. “Now, enough of that. I think all of you should introduce yourselves to Mr. Chau.” 

The triplets went first. Newt was glad to see that they told Hannibal their correct names the first time. They had switched shifts and work stations with each other countless times when Tendo first hired them. They still tried it sometimes, but now everyone who worked in the theater could tell them apart. Sometimes Tendo and Newt let them get away with it anyway, as long as all the shifts were covered. 

Newt shrank down in his seat as Tendo introduced himself. Newt really didn't want to stand up and remind Hannibal of his name. He'd never wanted to do anything less. He felt like he was going to barf as soon as Hannibal looked at him.

Unfortunately, it was Newt's turn next. He saw Stacker and Hannibal turn toward him, their eyes on him. (Well, at least he assumed Hannibal's eyes were on him, since his sunglasses were facing that way.)

“Hi!” Newt squeaked nervously. He cleared his throat and forced his voice back down to a normal pitch. “I'm Newton Geiszler. I've worked here for three years...I'm co-manager with Tendo...and I'm--” He coughed suddenly, interrupting himself, choking on seemingly nothing. “I'm very eager to be a completely model employee!”

Stacker raised one eyebrow, looking at Newt as though he had just sprouted another head, but saying nothing. Hannibal, to Newt's chagrin, started smirking again. 

“Nice to meet you, Newton. Glad to hear you're so eager,” he said evenly.

_Was that supposed to sound suggestive? God! I'm a pervert!_ , Newt thought frantically. Luckily, everyone's attention had moved on to Mako. 

“My name is Mako Mori. I work here 25 hours a week while I go to college.” She paused, looking unsure for a moment. “And I'm Stacker's foster daughter. In case you didn't know that.”

“Very nice. That your boyfriend next to you?” Hannibal nodded his head toward Raleigh.

“No. Definitely not. He's my friend,” Mako said firmly. 

Raleigh snorted. “You don't have to sound so offended about it, Mako.” 

Yancy, always the leader, took over the job of introducing Raleigh and himself. Newt almost rolled his eyes. Raleigh would be lost without Yancy...and Mako. Newt wondered if those two had ever had to write up a custody arrangement or something. 

Now that everyone was introduced, Stacker released them all to eat the leftover popcorn from that day and “get to know your new boss.” Most of the employees gathered around Stacker instead, asking about his doctor's appointment and treatments. Newt wanted to do the same, but he couldn't help but wonder how quickly he could sneak out unnoticed before he had to face Hannibal again.

His plan to escape was thwarted when Hannibal headed right for him as he waited in the popcorn line. (Hey, who could turn down free popcorn?)

“Can I speak to you outside for a minute?” Hannibal asked. 

_Shit, I'm fired!_ Newt thought. _Better get your free popcorn while you can,_ he thought inanely. He'd been a sucker for free food ever since his undergrad years. Free food and free T-shirts. 

Newt didn't answer Hannibal for a moment, frantically shoveling popcorn into his bag instead. Wasn't it amazing how he still liked popcorn even after smelling it nonstop for three years? When his bag was full, he reluctantly turned to Hannibal. “Sure. Lead the way,” he said aloud. He was determined to be tough about this.

Hannibal led him into the abandoned main lobby of the theater. They finally stopped next to the concession counter. Hannibal stood silently and looked at Newt for a few moments. His silence and his serious face seemed to compel Newt to babble. This was like getting sent to the principal's office.

“I don't usually hit on customers!” Newt blurted out. “I swear! I mean, you've met Stacker. Do you think he would let me stay here if I was an awful employee? Today was just a very unfortunate fluke. Not that _you're_ unfortunate. I was unfortunate because I tried to pick up my new boss. Oh, God. Do you get what I'm saying? I promise, I'll never do it again!” This was quickly degenerating into begging and pleading.

Suddenly, Hannibal laughed. His full laugh was deep and came from his belly, echoing through the empty lobby. “Relax, kid. I'm not out here to fire you. I just thought that you might have a little speech to give me like the one you just made.” Hannibal laid his hand on Newt's shoulder in a friendly manner.

_God, his hands are big_ , Newt thought helplessly.

“Here's the deal. I'm all about results. Keep the customers happy. What I always say, if the customer flirts with you, flirt back. Butter 'em up. But you don't make the first move on a customer. Not professional. If you make people uncomfortable, they won't come into your business, and then where would we be? Besides, I'm not dealing with any harassment lawsuits.” Hannibal patted Newt's shoulder in a way that was probably meant to be gentle, but actually hurt a little. “Your little spiel today didn't offend me any, but it might have bothered someone else. So cool it with that shit at work, okay?”

“Yes, sir! Got it! No more...spiels.” 

“I know that Pentecost wouldn't have kept you on for so long if you acted like that all the time. Hey, I guess you were just overcome by my good looks. I get that a lot.” Hannibal laughed uproariously at his own statement and patted Newt's shoulder once more before removing his hand and beginning to stroll back toward the break room. He paused at the door and turned back for a moment. “Seriously, kid, I think we'll get along just fine.” 

Newt forced a grin and gave him an awkward double thumbs-up at the words, and Hannibal laughed again. He finally disappeared through the break room door, and Newt let out a huge breath and sagged against the counter, barely holding himself upright.

Okay. This was okay, right? He wasn't fired. Hannibal wasn't mad or creeped out. This was going to be fine.

Newt felt like he could still sense the imprint of Hannibal's hand on his shoulder. His big, heavy hand. Hannibal Chau's hands. Hannibal Chau's big laugh that could fill a whole lobby. Hannibal Chau's massive shoulders and rude sense of humor and sarcastic smirk and awesome East Coast accent... oh, no, Newt was doomed. 

He had a crush on his boss.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt gets some advice from his uncle, Raleigh Becket has an emotional breakdown, and Hannibal gives Newt the scare of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains a little of what some may consider casual ableist language (i.e. "stupid). No other warnings I can think of.
> 
> Thanks to killerweasel!
> 
> I'm so grateful for the reviews this story has been getting. I'm having a blast writing it! The Chuck/Raleigh subplot will begin next chapter.

When Newt got home, he was too rattled to sleep. He needed to talk to someone about his stupid crush. He needed someone to help him figure all of this out or he would never settle down. 

But who? Hermann went to bed early like an old man and didn't have much patience for late night phone calls. Tendo didn't want to hear about this whole debacle, plus if he called him now, he might wake up the baby, and then he'd be in hot water for sure. His mom...yeah, right. He didn't talk to her any more than he had to. His dad would be very sympathetic, but he didn't have much good life advice. He was basically a walking disaster.

Then, he remembered the perfect person. He grabbed his phone, sat down at his little kitchen table, and typed out a text.

_Hey, Onkel Illia. Are you up?_

He knew that it was three hours later in Boston than it was in Eugene, but Illia had always tended to stay up late. Newt remembered getting up for school some mornings when he was a kid and finding Illia still up, fixing a mixer or rewiring an audio console.

_Yes, Neffe. How are you? Is something wrong?_

Newt sighed in relief at the response. Illia would know what to do. He'd gotten into and out of more romantic scrapes than anyone Newt had ever heard of, and had done it all with shameless cheer and utter lack of embarrassment. He would know how to handle a weird situation like having the hots for your boss. Definitely. Newt quickly tapped out another text.

_Can I call you?_

Illia answered quickly

_Sure_

Newt immediately tapped on the contact name to call his uncle. Illia answered on the second ring.

“Hey, boy!” he said cheerfully. “Shouldn't you be in bed? Are you up drinking?”

Newt snorted. “Sadly, no. I just got back from a staff meeting.”

“A meeting so late at night?”

“Yeah, our meetings have to be after the last movie showing of the night. It sucks.”

“That does indeed suck!” 

Newt smiled. His uncle's English was fluent and excellent, but he still had a strong German accent that made his English slang sound a little out of place.

“So what is it, Neffe? I know you aren't calling me to chat at this time of night. Are you in trouble? Need to get bailed out of jail? Owe money to somebody? Got a girl pregnant?”

Wow, maybe Newt's problems weren't quite as bad as he had thought. Those situations made his teeny, tiny crush sound trivial.

“No, nothing like that. It's just... a work thing.”

“I don't know anything about working at a cinema, Newton!”

“No, it's...it's my boss.”

“Is he an asshole?”

Newt laughed. “No, I'm actually the asshole in this situation.” Hesitantly, he explained the day's events to Illia. Newt wasn't sure if he felt better or worse when Illia laughed hysterically at the blatant come-ons that Newt had tried to use on Hannibal Chau.

“You said those things? You really are my Neffe!” He laughed until he choked and had to take a drink of water.

“Stop! Let me tell you the rest.” Newt explained the meeting, his conversation with Hannibal in the lobby, and then his ridiculous high school-type crush. 

“I swear, I like him so much! I don't even know why. He's so weird, Illia, seriously. But he's awesome and I think I literally got weak in the knees when I talked to him. So how am I supposed to act like a normal person?”

“Well, I've never had this situation with another man...” Illia began.

Newt rolled his eyes. He didn't need to be reminded that his uncle was strictly straight. 

“But I've had some bad infatuations before. I've got some advice.”

“Okay, lay it on me.”

“First, find something ugly about him.”

“Something ugly?”

“Yes. Just one thing really not attractive about him. I once knew a girl who was perfect, except she had a crooked canine tooth. She was engaged to another man. Every time I was around her, I just kept staring at that tooth until it was all I could see. Soon I wasn't at love with her at all anymore!”

Newt felt like laughing, but held it in, in case his uncle would take offense. “Oh, okay. That makes sense.”

“It doesn't have to be just appearance, either. If you can find something really annoying he does, that can help, too. I once knew a girl who was perfect, except she blinked too much.”

Newt choked on a small snort of laughter. “Okay...”

“Also, when you're around him, to keep yourself from flirting...treat him like a grandmother.”

“What?”

“Don't let yourself say anything to him that you wouldn't say to an old grandmother in church!”

Newt lost his battle against the laughter. “I'm supposed to treat my boss like a grandmother?”

“You could also treat him like a priest on Sunday. Whatever. Why are you laughing, boy?”

“Your advice is just a little...unconventional. But hey, it may work. I definitely feel better, at least.” The hysterical laughter seemed to have loosened the knot of anxiety that had been in his chest all day.

“Good. I only want to help.”

“You did help, Onkel Illia. Thanks.”

“Let me know what happens. Do you think that your boss might feel the same way about you?”

“Oh, I _really_ doubt it. I mean, he wasn't grossed out by me or anything, but he's probably straight.” Newt shook his head. “Anyway, it doesn't matter. He's a priest to me now! Or a grandmother. Whatever.”

“Good man! I think I'm going to go to bed now, Neffe. You're okay?”

“I'm fine. Tell Papa hi for me, okay? I'll call him soon.”

“Of course. Good night, Newton.”

“Good night.”

Newt smiled as he thought about his uncle going to bed in the little apartment he shared with his dad. He'd be going up the stairs now, turning lights off behind him, sneaking past Papa's door like he had so many nights when he stayed out late...Newt suddenly missed Boston. He'd have to go home soon. 

For now, the thought of it was sufficient to calm him down enough to sleep. After he quickly got ready for bed, he lay down on his bed and scrunched his eyes closed tight, pretending that he was in his childhood bedroom, listening to his uncle's footsteps and his father's snores, knowing that he wasn't alone.

*****

The next day, Newt came in to work determined to treat Hannibal with utter indifference, and also to find a massive flaw in his looks or behavior. You'd think that Hannibal's gaudy dress sense would be enough to turn him off, but his libido had somehow managed to look past that.

To his relief, neither Hannibal, nor Stacker were there that morning. He managed to have a fairly uneventful day until around 3:00 PM, when Raleigh was supposed to come in, but was nowhere to be seen.

“Mako! Where's your boy?” Newt barked out. The two of them usually walked to work together from campus. 

“I don't know. He didn't meet me today. I haven't heard from him all day.” Mako had a big-eyed worried expression that was somehow both sad and adorable. It was almost as bad as the Becket puppy face. 

“That's not like him. Have you heard from Yancy?” 

“No. And he doesn't work today.”

Newt frowned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He found Raleigh's contact and called it, but it rang repeatedly until it went to voicemail. “This is weird, Mako.”

“I know! I've tried calling and texting him. Nothing.” Mako shrugged. 

“You go back to work. I'll figure it out. He's probably just running a few minutes late.”

To Newt's irritation, Raleigh didn't show up in five minutes, or ten, or twenty. Newt realized that theaters were due to be cleaned, and with Raleigh gone, he should probably do it. He sighed and secretly grumbled to himself about grunt work as he went to fetch the broom and dustpan. 

Theater Five was between showings, and was meant to be empty, but when Newt pushed the door open, the light flooding into the room revealed Raleigh, sitting in the back row of the theater, utterly still. 

“Raleigh? What are you doing?”

“I'm sorry, Newt.” Raleigh stared down at his lap. His voice sounded choked.

“That's not an answer. Why are you in here?”

“I came in to work on time, but I just couldn't stand talking to anyone today. I ducked in here to hide out.”

Newt was confused. Raleigh was usually one of their friendliest and most annoyingly cheerful employees. 

“Is this about Stacker? Are you worried about him? Are you having a fight with Mako?”

Raleigh shook his head. “The stuff from yesterday doesn't help, but no. It's something else. I don't wanna talk about it.”

Newt was not enjoying this little guessing game. “Either tell me what's wrong or get your ass out to the lobby and start working. Your choice.” God, when had he become such a hardass? Probably when he being forced to sweep up popcorn and gum wrappers.

“It's Yancy, okay?” Raleigh blurted out.

“Yancy? What's wrong with Yancy?”

“He's going to grad school.”

“And...that's bad?” Newt wasn't sure if this was one of those times when he didn't understand normal people, or one of those times when Raleigh was making a big deal out of nothing.

“It's not bad, but...he's leaving. He's going to University of Southern California in L.A.! I had no idea he even applied. How could he not tell me?” Raleigh's depression seemed to be switching to anger, and Newt felt the sudden urge to duck and cover. He didn't have a good history with jocks getting angry in his vicinity.

“What's he going to school for? I didn't even know he wanted to get into a graduate program.”

“Remember when he tore his ACL in practice sophomore year?” Newt nodded. Yancy played on the University of Oregon football team. “He had to go to physical therapy for a while, and it turns out, he's been thinking about what he wants to do when he graduates this year, since he doesn't think he's good enough to go pro, and now he wants to become a physical therapist. Not that he ever told any of these plans to me until this morning,” Raleigh added bitterly. 

“I can actually see that. He'll be good at that,” Newt said. Yancy had one of those leader personalities, disgustingly encouraging and driven. He'd be good at guiding people through recovery. 

“He said that he didn't tell me or anyone because he was scared he wouldn't get in. He was waitlisted and just found out today. He's never kept a big secret like that from me before. And he's going to...oh, shit.” Raleigh clapped his hand over his mouth.

“What?” 

“Can't tell you yet. He has to tell you himself.” 

“Raleigh! What the hell? You told me all this already, just spit it out.”

“He's going to quit this job, okay?” Raleigh blurted out. “Don't be mad! He wants to go home to Alaska for the summer and see our family again before he goes, and Dad said he could get him a job working on the dams. It pays better, so he could save up more for tuition. Dammit, don't be mad, okay? He's going to give three weeks notice!”

“Relax, I'm not mad. It's totally understandable. In fact, I'm kinda jealous.” He hadn't really meant to add that last part. “Did you think that Yancy would just stay here in Eugene forever? I mean, don't you plan to leave once you graduate?” 

Raleigh sighed. “I dunno. I just finished my freshman year, I don't have plans yet. I guess I knew he wouldn't stay here forever, but I thought he was pathetic like me and would probably just hang around here for a few more years, figuring shit out. I hoped he'd stick around for a while.”

Newt put his arm around Raleigh and patted his massive bicep. “I know this sucks for you. But maybe it'll be good, you know? Get out from under your brother's shadow. Do your own thing. And you still have Mako.”

“You're right.” Raleigh patted Newt's hand. “Thanks, boss. I'm sorry I was hiding in here. I'll go work.”

“Okay, good. Take my broom and dustpan. I feel less managerial just touching them.” 

Raleigh snorted and obeyed. “You sure you're not mad at Yancy?”

“As long as he gives notice, it won't be a problem. I'm sure Stacker will understand. Or, wait, Hannibal has to understand...I can't really promise anything about that dude. But I'll stick up for Yancy if I have to.”

“Thanks. You're the best!” Raleigh made his way out of the theater with about half of his usual swagger.

A loud, deep, disembodied voice suddenly boomed out through the theater. “Hannibal understands!” 

“What the fuck?” Newt gasped. He looked around, his heart pounding, then slowly realized that the voice had come from the projection room above the theater, just behind the back row.

Booming laughter came out of the projection room window. “Come up here, kid!” It was Hannibal Chau's voice. Well, that had certainly taken a few years off of Newt's life.

Newt reluctantly obeyed and made his way up the back staircase to the row of projection rooms. He entered the one for Theater Five and found Hannibal there, grinning. 

“Sorry I scared you. I couldn't resist. I was doing a walk-through of the whole building and I saw you and Becket in there. I listened in a little.”

Newt winced. “I... did not realize you were doing that.” He suddenly realized that, although his heart was pounding, it seemed to be a reaction to surprise and sheer terror rather than hormones. Hannibal scaring the life out of him seemed to have taken the edge off of his crush feelings for now.

“Relax. I don't care if the older Becket quits. You expect some turnover with college kids. What I liked about what I saw in there was you.”

“Uh...really?”

“Your subordinates trust you and respect you. That's something I like to see. He told you what was going on, but he didn't expect you to be a pushover and let him get out of working his shift. And you gave him good advice. I do have a question, though.”

_Oh, shit, he heard me say I was jealous of Yancy quitting...why did I say that? Fuck!_

“Why _are_ you working here, Newt? I've been reading your file. You have two degrees, computer science and cinema studies. You kicked ass at your student internship. You won awards at two film festivals. So what are you doing here, three years later?”

“Well, I needed money, you know, and...wait, are you about to fire me?” Was this possibly a really flattering lead-in to being fired for being overqualified? 

“I just told you I liked your style. Stop asking if I'm going to fire you. I want to know why you haven't quit yet.”

Newt sighed. “It's hard, you know? You need money to live. But if you're busy making money, you don't have time to work hard on your creative projects. You don't get paid while you're making your own independent film.”

“Kickstarter. Fundraisers. Local investors. Government film grants. Get people from the University of Oregon involved,” Hannibal spit out rapid-fire, counting off on his fingers.

“Wow, you really are an ideas guy, aren't you?” Newt laughed awkwardly. 

“Where there's a will, there's a way, kid.”

“I guess I feel a lot of...pressure. I was really successful in school. I'm not used to failing.”

“So you'd rather just not try?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Hannibal laughed at his honesty. “I get it. It's stupid, but I get it.” He leaned back and looked at Newt with a considering stare. “I like knowing what makes my employees tick. I'm glad to have you here, but if you ever quit to go make your movies, no hard feelings. I may even be able to help out.”

_God, he's so awesome,_ Newt thought helplessly. How was he supposed to find a flaw in this guy when he kept being nice to him, even when he screwed up? You'd think the gold teeth would count as a flaw, but apparently Newt's subconscious disagreed.

“Well...thank you,” Newt finally said aloud. _Find a flaw! Treat him like a grandma!_ At least Newt hadn't said anything suggestive today. Not yet, anyway.

“Go supervise your workers. We can start interviewing to fill Yancy Becket's spot next week.”

“Yes, sir!” Newt meant to be respectful, but it came out sounding sarcastic. Hannibal just snorted. 

Newt hightailed it out of the projection room, feeling somehow both comforted and upset. He still had a job. His new boss had complimented him. His urge to jump Hannibal's bones seemed to have faded a little, so that was something, but talking to him today had just reinforced the fact that he was super cool. Now Newt was imagining having a beer with him. Having him over to his shitty apartment. Showing him his senior film project. And they'd sit together on the couch and he'd describe how carefully he'd modeled each character and frame...and Hannibal would lean closer to him and maybe take his sunglasses off for once and look at his lips...fuck. 

Newt shook his head as though that would clear the fantasies out of it. Okay, so maybe he had a crush. But Hannibal had reminded him that he had something else to focus on. He really did need to start working on his movies again. He wasn't going to be a popcorn pusher forever.


End file.
